Some of the saison family yeasts can really smash up hops though.

It's that old dilemma, are you just trying to make nice beer or are you trying to make a point.

I like Rochefort precisely for the balance that comes from them using a British yeast, but I get that people might expect a "Trappist NEIPA" to be more overtly Belgian-yeast in character.

At home, Rochefort dregs would be my first choice, they're great, definitely much more complex than commercial equivalent single strains like WLP540 and Be-256.

It's just whether you go mad and push some banana or overt phenolics in there as well...

Weirdly Mosaic is one of the very few hops that my long COVID doesn't do weird things to, so I'm a big fan. Whereas too much Citra goes rotten-pineapple.

Maybe some late Target as a nod to Belgium?

The yeast choice is the fun bit though...

Yeah, me too, sort of Abt base with a load of Citra/Mosaic etc

Trappist NEIPA and glitter beer for the win!

That would be the most cricket thing ever, interval acts made up solely of MCC members.

You could get a pretty good gig out of the Stones, Clapton, Elton John etc...

This was Seattle - again I guess it comes down to culture, NE is a bit more Anglo-aware than the West Coast.

I also once had to explain to the teenagers on the evening shift what the leeks were in my basket.... They were a lot more informed on the (mis)fortunes of Man Utd than the Allium family!

But it doesn't say it's a spread, you have to know that.

So I've seen it in the baking section - it says it's 'yeast' after all, with the sauces, in the 'ethnic' section with baked beans & golden syrup, all sorts.

Not that I'm buying at $10 for a tiny jar...

You think regular yeast is difficult in a country that understands baking - now imagine the average US shelf-stacker trying to place Marmite, something they have no concept of. It ends up everywhere...

Heat Geek are a good place to start - see these 2 videos for what they did with an "impossible" Victorian terrace in London :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEpt...

Think they're only ones to guarantee SCOP, so you don't get left with a non-functioning system.

Also prominent in heatpumpmonitor.org best

A classic example of Betteridge's law methinks....

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteri...

If you see Fuller's porter on cask, grab it, but it's a rarity these days.

Depends when you're around, there may be festivals as an option if you want a good choice of cider, but good cider can be found in pubs if you look for it.

Taylor's - the Bricklayer's by Putney Bridge no longer seems to do the full range, but should do the best pint of Landlord and Boltmaker.

What Jeff calls Juicy bitter:
www.beervanablog.com/beervana/201...

which has now evolved with English hop options like Harlequin and Ernest.

Thing is with cask, it's not just the beer, but having it treated right in the cellar, so "Harvey's" becomes :

Harvey's-at-the-Harp-(Trafalgar-Square)-or-at-the-Royal-Oak,Borough

(and if you're going to the Royal Oak you might as well do the rest of the Harvey's range)

Little Fish, Big Tale: How Fast Fashion Caught Its Own Hop | DC Beer Please welcome Phil Runco back to DC Beer! John Segal hated the name. “Why don't you just call the hop Shit?” the Segal Ranch owner quipped, mildly

Hop breeding started with a Salmon...

I keep being thwarted by Fast Fashion and Anchovy - either I fall foul of opening times or when I did make it there it was August and they had one beer left with it in a blend - plenty of other fish were in that sea!

For background:
dcbeer.com/2022/06/01/l...

IPAs are everywhere, but visitors might appreciate a list of exceptions to that rule - the likes of MH, Fair Isle, even Formula and Bizarre?

Obviously when in Seattle you drink IPA but at the same time it's nice to see what else is going on.

As a rule, don't expect outside drinking to be much more than benches in a carpark. Limited experience, but am struggling for appealing places to drink outdoors. The Lookout east of Lake Union is an OK garden with a spectacular view, outside of main Fremont taproom is niceish but next to main road.

It's a slog to Yakima - unless a) it's harvest/wet hop or b) you're a *real* hop geek I probably wouldn't bother unless lot of time on your hands or as a side trip from Mt Rainier. Toppenish hop museum is charmingly eccentric but not worth driving from Seattle for. In summer,do Olympics loop first.

Total Wine is handy for the kind of US stuff that's a bit too mainstream for bars but still interesting to visitors, plus curios like 4.6% export Boddies.

Supermarkets have relatively few bottle/can singles. Fred Meyer is probably best in that regard, Whole Foods is more limited but interesting.

I had no problems with a UK debit card contactless in bars, but sometimes had to swipe/insert in big shops, and odd complete failure in mom&pop offies - keep cash handy for emergencies.

Fast Fashion is notable for Anchovy hops which unlikely to find anywhere else, but they tend to run out by summer

Random thoughts -

It's really handy having Cloudburst so close to Pike Place, but it gets really busy so best visited early in the day unless just grabbing cans. Ballard one is better in that regard.

Beware taprooms closing early by civilised standards - often 8pm during the week, 10pm at w/e

I don't know what the good general sports bars would be - but it's not quite the same if you don't have that element of foreigners who really, really care about the game?

Me, I'd rather combine decent beer and atmosphere at Machine House, where I watched several Euros games with some of the best cask beer on the west coast. Also not far from the Seward Chuck's.

I guess Brouwer's Café would have been the natural hub for the Belgians, has anything replaced it?

Expat bars are one route - I imagine the Kangaroo & Kiwi will be hopping on 19 June, and even without British teams, there will be lots of Brits wanting to watch games at Brit bars like the 3 Lions next to the British Pantry in Redmond.

I imagine the breweries were disappointed to see Iran, Qatar and Egypt coming to town! I'm sure the Aussies will drink for four countries though, and you could have the Belgians there for 3 weeks until 6 July.

It's not just about beer though, bars are a way to find your tribe and a ⚽-friendly vibe.

Fun idea - raising money for a conservation charity on Earth Day (22 April) with beer delivered from brewery to bar on foot, by handcart.

It's also the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, www.eppo.int - you can imagine my confusion....

What's in a Farmhouse Yeast? | Larsblog Personal blog of Lars Marius Garshol.

Finally, after 8.5 years, this massive new farmhouse yeast paper is out! We've analyzed no less than 1760 yeast samples, and discovered that there is more farmhouse yeast than all known modern beer yeast put together. New results about contamination, too.

www.garshol.priv.no/blog/440.html

Not so inappropriate given all the links - both in personnel and yeast - between Thornbridge and Buxton....